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Saturday, April 7, 2012

The Stranger and his Trials

The Myth of Sisyphus by Titian

Albert Camus's essay, The Myth of Sisyphus, contains an addition titled Hope and Absurd in the work of Franz Kafka, dedicated to the Absurd and the killing of hope. Camus claims that Kafka fails as an absurd writer because his novels sparkle with hope here and there. (Camus shouldn't be considered a nihilist).
But he was definitely interested in Kafka's works. No surprise, Kafka was very a influential author, and one of the best writers of the 20th century. Both The Trial (Kafka, published posthumously in 1925) and The Stranger (Camus, 1942) deal with characters who are on trial, but they won't, under any circumstance, accept society's laws concerning morality or religion, because they are forced to find the meaning in the meaningless world. They won't save their lives, by accepting “illusions.”.
Joseph K (The Trial), is trapped in Kafkaesque world, desperately trying to find out what is he accused of. The authority, as in any other Kafka's story, is inaccessible.
Meursault (The Stranger) on the other hand, knows his crime, but he is not punished for what he did, but for his lack of emotions after his mother's death, which have nothing to do with the murder he has committed. Meursault is different, and he needs to be punished because of it. An honest person, he always speaks his mind and does not care how other people see him. He doesn’t feel the need to defer to what society expects him to be or thinks of him. He is the stranger to society.
Many writers and philosophers have their interpretation of what is Absurd. Sartre wrote about the absurdity of individual experience, while Kierkegaard wrote more about religion, and how many religious truths prevent humans from reaching God.
The term “Kafkaesque” is used to describe ideas that are marked by senseless bureaucracy, dangerous and surreal, and often appear in Kafka's works, such as The Trial, The Metamorphosis and The Castle. It often describes humiliation of humans under authority, and authority is yet another human and humans have flaws, beliefs and imperfections. The Trial and The Castle are intertwined. The Trial describes the problem, but it doesn't solve it. The Castle solves the problem by making us accept it and live with it. The Castle's every chapter is a new defeat, but also a new beginning, as well. It teaches us durability. Kafka's works perfectly describe the path between hope and despair, because he IS the master of despair.
Camus describes Meursault as someone who is unaware of the absurdity of human existence, yet this absurdity colours his actions; the only real and true things are his physical experiences. Both Joseph K and Meursault feel the terror of society on their skin, at the end, they are brutally wiped out because they don't think nor act the way society demands. Both books, The Trial and The Stranger, look very simple, but are carefully planned. After you read them, you will discover a whole world of symbolism and meaning.
For those of you who want to experience more, besides these books, we highly recommend to you a film adaptation of The Trial, directed by Orson Welles in 1962.

10 comments:

I like the moral those books are showing us. I don't mean just the two books you've mentioned, but every book with the theme of absurdity. Much can be learned from them, and after reading, as you said, one can discover a whole new world.

Welcome and thanks for the feedback, Milan! Years don't matter, Nietzche started writing his autobiography when he was 14, hehe. And for the starter book suggestion, I would first off recommend to you Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, then The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. If you dislike it, we guarantee a refund.

Another book to tackle would be Stranger in a strange land by Heinlein, Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, and Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank...if you want somthing a bit more...I don't know, deep, or dark... Bradbury has a horror called Something wicked this way comes, and Frank Herbert's Dune are both very good reads....

Not sure If I am going to follow, throw up a few stories, poems and posts and let me see what you can do...this piece is well written though.

Hey, thanks for additional recommendations, Stranger in a strange land sounds interesting, will look it up.We've only just begun yesterday with this blog, and it is our first one, so we're still figuring it out. We are working on new posts as we speak, and not just literature, so you check in from time to time, and expect that the posts will only get better, if you liked this piece. Cheers

Really interesting stuff. I love the library background as well. I think I might check out the book with the yellow backing, looks interesting. Ooo and there's one book with 1/5 of an oval on that book, that book is stylish.